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How to Build a Great Sci-Fi World
If you’re writing something that has either a fantasy or science-fiction setting, it’s highly likely that your piece of writing will be set in a world that is vastly (or sometimes just marginally) different from the current world we all populate. Therefore, in order for you to be able to get your story into the best shape it can be, you will have to create a strong, convincing world where your characters can live in and interact with. Because if you as a writer don’t understand the world then how can your audience. So here’s how to build a strong world Get the Right Tools So first you’ll need to have all your writing equipment in order. Now, for world-building, thoughts can become increasingly non-linear and scattered when thinking about so many different aspects of the world you’re creating. So whilst a traditional word document can see you through the planning stages, sometimes it’s easier to go a bit more freeform and get out all your non-digital writing equipment. So notepads, pens, colored pencils, highlighters, sticky notes, A3 sheets of paper - any stationery you can think of can have a purpose when it comes to some aspect of world-building. However, if you’re starting off, or maybe just looking for an office equipment upgrade, you might not have everything you want or need. Thanks to sites like Promo Codes For, they have discount vouchers from a whole host of sites from Paperchase to Ryman to WH Smith, meaning you can make some great savings on all your stationery needs. So now you’ve got all that sorted, you can begin world planning. There’s a Time and a Place First, for your world, you need to decide on the setting: basically the time period and the place in which it’s set. For the time, you can be a bit vague. For the world, you have to be a bit more specific. For example, Interstellar, the Christopher Nolan film, is set sometime vaguely in the future, about 50 years or so, but you definitely know the places. Earth, space, and then the planets they visit. In Star Wars, everyone knows it’s set ‘a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away’. They do have their own timeline, which are years set around the Battle of Yavin, the bit in Star Wars IV where they blow up the Death Star (Before the Battle of Yavin, BBY, and After the Battle of Yavin, ABY). But if you didn’t know that, it’s doesn’t necessarily spoil your enjoyment of the films. Don’t forget, if every world you create has a time period, there is also a history to that world. This is where you can go more in-depth with the world. In terms of a place, you have to be specific, but the place can vary from being as small as a building, to as big as a whole planet, or a universe. When author Kate Messner sets up her own worlds, she follows a similar method. What Are You Looking At? Every world needs to have a look. Sometimes looks come with the time and the place. If you said ‘An industrial city during the Victorian era’ as your time and place, the look of that place will be a bit more obvious. If it is in a completely different place, such as an alien planet, you will have to plan out what it looks like. What do the buildings look like, if indeed there are any? What do the characters wear, if anything at all? What do the people/animals look like if they’re different from what we’re used to? What items are available in this world? Also, don’t forget to think of all the senses too. Touch, smell and sound are all important in building up what a place feels like. Going back to the Victorian example, your characters will react to all the other senses too. The loud mills, the horrible smog, the itchy clothes etc. ' Contain Yourself' Every world needs to had confines, boundaries in which makes the world conducive to good storytelling. Otherwise, anything could happen in a story. There’s a reason why in most stories there isn’t a magic button that the protagonist can push to make everything better. You need to set up rules that everyone in that world operates in. For instance, in Game of Thrones, you never see Jon Snow wielding a lightsaber or using the force. The rules that George RR Martin has put in place, where it has a medieval feel to it, prohibits futuristic technology from making an appearance. What things will be in place in your world to stop your characters doing what they want? In the real world, there are things that can tie us down, like the need to have a job in order to make money. How do your characters survive in your world? Now I’m a Believer Every world needs to be believable. It has to submerge the reader/viewer. By ‘believable’, it doesn’t mean ‘everything has to be set on Planet Earth, featuring humans putting the bins out whilst dabbing’. It just means making it believable in that world. Like in Star Wars Episode VI, it wouldn’t be believable if Han Solo suddenly gained the power of levitation and destroyed the Death Star just by breathing fire from his mouth onto it. However, it is believable that the Death Star would be destroyed when the Millennium Falcon flies inside of it and takes out the reactor core. The believability comes with the rules that you set, and one of those mentioned scenarios fit the rules of the Star Wars world. So hopefully now you feel more confident in knowing how to create believable worlds. If you do want to learn more though, TV Tropes have this handy page packed full of examples. So now go out there and get building!Category:Write a category here